Reptile & Amphibian Forums

well, just took my snakes out of brumation.
Last year I put them in a closet for a few days to gradually warm up a little and then put them in their respective vivs at normal temps and lighting. After what was a total of a week, four days in warm up and three days at normal temps, I fed them a small meal.
They digested their first small meals without incident so the following week I started them back on adult mice and everything went well.
I was wondering if I need to do the "warm up" or if I could just put them back in the vivs at normal temps, give them a few days to acclimate and start them with a small or "warm up" meal after those few days.
by the way....
My plans for the season...
Nothing high end or spectacular but I should have some nice babies. I have a few selective breeding directions with some of the pairings listed and a few projects in which my snakes aren't old enough yet.

Male Ghost het amel to female snow: will get anerys het amel het hypo and snows het hypo (the snows het hypo could make for some nice hypo snows in a few years).
Male cinnamon (hypo guttata/emoryi) to female cinnamon (hypo
guttata/emoryi): will get cinnamons obviously,
but both may be het amel (creamsicle). If they are, I should get cinnamons, creamsicles and hopefully a few sunglow creamsicles.
Male creamsicle to female creamsicle: will get creamsicles (I have a look I am working towards with these).
Male stripe creamsicle to female creamsicle: will get creamsicles het stripe (my female stripe cream isn't ready to breed yet).
Male ghost het amel to female amel: to get normals het snow het hypo and amels het ghost.
Male Okeetee to very nice looking female normal het snow: should produce some nice classic corns (to borrow/steal a name used by Kathy Love).My female okeetee isn't ready to breed yet.
Male anery to female snow: not sure if either are het so should give me anerys het amel (hopefully a few surprises too)
And something I am actually most excited about:
my two pairs of Bairds Rat Snakes....I just love these guys.
One of last years snows

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Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"resistance is futile"
Jimmy (draybar)

Draybars Snakes

>>I left them in the brumation boxes, in a closet, over night and then put them in their regular housing after 24 hours.
I will probably give them 48 to 72 hours at normal temps and then go ahead and feed them each a fuzzie.
It just seems to me that in the wild one of the first things they would do upon emerging from brumation would be to seek out that warm rock or sunny spot to bring their temps up and then start looking for food.
We will see how it works.
Just seems a week is a little to long to wait after bringing them up.
one of my anerys from last season

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Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"resistance is futile"
Jimmy (draybar)

Draybars Snakes

I just turn out the lights and turn on the a/c. But it doesn't get all that cold even with the a/c (maybe low 60s). But when it is time to wake them up, I warm them to the usual temps over about a week or so, give them a couple of small meals ove the first 2 weeks, then back to usual. When I turn the lights back on, I start with about 10 hours a day, then gradually work up to about 16 or 18 hours a day during the breeding season. My artificial season seems to work, but I don't get as strong or fast breeding response as I did when I used the local natural light and temp cycles.

My situation is not quite the same as yours, but that is what I do. Hope that helps.

I just lower the temps to the low 60s (I don't really have a snake room, so I just tell the family to "put on a sweater and get over it!" heh heh...) and reduce the light to them by covering the rack face.

Once I'm ready to bring them back to temp, I do so over the period of a week to ten days, and then feed a couple of smaller meals over the next week. Then, it's back to normal for them all.

Sorry I didn't see this sooner, Jimmy. Your projects look like they produce some interesting babies...pics are a must when they hatch!
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Darin Chappell
Hillbilly Herps
PO Box 254
Rogersville, MO 65742

>>I know how busy everyone is.
Since I already brought them up to normal temps I will just have to see how it works out.
I hope I didn't rush it too much but they are all looking good anyway.
I will probably go ahead and offer them each small hoppers Wednesday or Thursday and see how that goes.
thanks for the responses
Jimmy
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Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"resistance is futile"
Jimmy (draybar)

Draybars Snakes

I do things a lot like you described....I hibernate mine in a cold closet. Once i decide to start warming them up I take them out and stack them somewhere at an intermediate temp range (like a warmer closet in a different room) for a few days before I take them back into the snake room. After a few days at normal temps I start with small meals for the first feeding and then right back to normal sized meals. After about 4 or 5 meals, I start pairing them up.
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Mike Heinrich
mike@amazontreeboa.org
www.amazontreeboa.org